The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1887-02-24
MADAME MALIHRAN.
Unfortunate Career in America Of tn
First Opera Singer Heard i'm Washing


Unfortunate Career in America Of thu
First Opera Singer Heard i'm Washing.
ton.
Nine. Malibran, who was the first
opera singer heard in Washington,
came to the United States with her
parents, Senior and Nine. Garcia, when
girl. In November, 1925, the Garcia
troupe made their first appearance in
New York, in I'll Barbiere." They
also produced several of Rossini's
operas, which were novelties there and
then. But this daughter was not con-
sidered to have succeeded. Rosina and
Cenerentola were her most popular
parts, but she made very favorable
impression as Desdemonia, in which
one night when she came to the foot
lights to obey an encore, the audience
begged her to. sing Home, Sweet
Home" which she did, much to their
satisfaction, and perhaps to her own
amusement.
Garcia soon saw that his enterprise
must fail. There was then in New
York French merchant named Mali
bran, certainly fifty years old, who had
the reputation of being immensely rich.
He fell in love with Miss Garcia, and
offered her his hand. The poor girl,
not quite eighteen, knew not what to
do, what to say. Malibran, in reply to
Garcia's complaint that his daughters
marriage would deprive the family Of
the fruits of her natural gifts as vo-
calist, magnifcently promised to pay
him loo, 900 francs as an equivalent So
December and May were matrimonially
united. Malibran made handsome mar.
riage settlements on his bride, and the
nuptials came off on March %, 1926,
one day before the lady had
completed the ripe age of eighteen. In
a few weeks Malibran became bank
rupt and prisoner for debt, without
having paid any thing to Garcia. who
went off to Mexico Mime. Malibran
got an engagement as singer at one
of the New York theaters, her salary
being paid every night in advance to
her husband. She had already, from a
sense of justice, surrendered to his
creditors the marriage settlement which
he had executed. At last she was COM
PEELED to leave him and return to her
native Paris, in December, 1927, before
she was twenty. There she resided
with her husbands sister. Never
again did she visit America, though
she always hoped, after she had become
the best singer in Europe, to have had
that satisfaction.
Nine. Malibran sang in private, be.
fore select and very critical
company, very soon after her re.
turn to Paris, and the verdict be-
ing emphatically in her favor, she i'm.
mediately was asked to perform at the
Italian opera, which she did in January
1928, in ''Semiramde. The impres
sion which her youth and beauty pro
duced upon the largest and most bril-
liant audience she had ever seen wa!
not weakened by her singing. She re
ceived a regular engagement at th'
Italian opera, and soon established
herself decided favorite with the au
dience. She appeared in many of Ros
sini's operas, which the vast compass
of her voice (contralto) enabled her t.
do justice to. Once successful in Paris
she was welcomed everywhere else
and possessed increasing popularity il
England, France and Italy during tn
rest of her life, period of not les
than eight years. She died in the au
tumn of 1886, in her twenty-ninth year
Ben PerLey POore in Boston Bad0et